O Christmas Tree
by Not A Ghost3
Summary: Erik had never been too keen about Christmas trees, or Christmas in general for that matter, and thought the entire idea of going out and purposefully buying a tree to sit in the house for a month was utterly ridiculous...Sample entry for "A Very, Phantom Christmas One-Shot Contest". More info on the Christmas one-shot contest inside. *12/28/16 Updated with winners!*
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all you lovely readers- it's finally that time of year again! The snow is blowing…..chestnuts are roasting on an open fire….and jack frost is nipping at your nose... In light of the season, I've decided to offer up a challenge in the form of a Phantom Christmas One-Shot Contest! The one-shot attached to these rules is an example entry for the contest. This entry won't be judged as I'm the one who wrote it! Ha ha! So, to start you off, here are a few ground rules and general stuff you need to know:**

 **Entry timeline: December 1st- December 25th AKA- CHRISTMAS DAY!**

 **Winners announced: December 27th**

 **Reward: 1st overall, a review, it gets favorited, I'll promote your stories through the a/n of my stories, AND you get bragging rights! (who doesn't love bragging rights, am I right?) 2nd and 3rd overall, a review and bragging rights! (And a favorite too if I REALLY love it!) All the entries will receive a review!**

 **How to enter: Upload your story to FanFiction and pm me the link and be sure to put 'Entry for A Very, Phantom Christmas One-Shot contest' in your summary or author's note. PM me with the title of your story, your penname and summary of your story. :)**

 **Guidelines:**

 **\- The story must be a ONE-SHOT! If you wish to continue your one-shot into a story, you're welcome to, but judging will only be applied to the first chapter.**

 **-It must be Christmas themed. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to make it a winter-y one shot with snow/ lack of snow, etc. The one-shot does not have to take place on Christmas day, but should have a Christmas-y theme such as Christmas cookies, finding the true spirit of the season. etc.**

 **-There is no minimum OR maximum word count.**

 **-The contest is open cannon and category so as long as it covers a Christmas/winter theme it can be AU, Modern, Period; and any category: romance, family, hurt/comfort, angst, comedy— heck, you could do horror if you found a way to! (Bonus points to whoever wants to try their hands at a HORROR Christmas one-shot!) Also, it can be Leroux, Kay, ALW, etc., really any version you want to write, and the story can have any Phantom character(s) you want in it, and can be any rating, no restrictions there!**

 **-Judging will be based on creativity, overall enjoyment of the story, as well as which ever one truly defines the Christmas spirit! You aren't required to have a Beta, but it's recommended as excessive typos and grammar issues will result in point deductions.**

 **-Stories will be ranked by top 3 in each category (romance; horror; angst; etc.) as well as top 3 OVERALL!**

 **Remember- the main goal is to have FUN! So get to it and hit me with a snowball of Christmas Phantom stories right in the feels! Happy writing!**

 **Today we delve into my first MODERN Phantom one-shot, featuring my fav OC- Erik and Christine's daughter! If you like it, leave a review and don't forget to send in your entires for the one-shot contest, it'll be a lot of fun! :D**

* * *

"Does she have her coat on?"

A sigh.

"Yes," Erik answered for at least the tenth time as he tied a scarf around his four-year-old daughter's neck.

Christine nodded and made a check on her piece of paper that she had rested on her baby bump that she was currently using as a desk of sorts.

"Okay, do you have bungee cords to attach it to the roof of the car?" Christine asked, once again frantic.

Erik rolled his eyes, turned away from his wife mind you, and stood up from where he was kneeling on the floor. "Christine, you've triple checked everything, we have it," Erik assured her, almost amused at his wife's worrying.

Christine sighed. "I know, but last time you forgot the-"

"Shh…" Erik quieted her. "We have everything, I'm positive. Come on, we need to go before they close."

Christine nodded as she pulled her coat on, before reaching up for a quick peck from her husband. She picked up her purse and Erik picked up their giggling daughter and they made their way to the front door.

"Wait," Christine stopped. She shot a worried look up at her husband. "Do you have the—"

Erik pulled the car keys of his pocket before she even had time to pull out her checklist.

* * *

"Daddy….are we there yet?"

"Little swan, we'll be there in just a few minutes," Erik said as he drove down the rode.

A tiny groan came from the backseat. "But I need to find my Christmas tree _now_!"

Christine turned her head around to look back at her daughter. "Opal— "

Opal crossed her arms and gave her mother her best scowl. "I need to get a tree, I need to get a tree!" She chanted.

Christine scrunched her eyebrows together and turned back to the front, her reaction opposite to that of Erik who apparently thought the whole argument was quite funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Christine shot at him as their daughter's chants turned into excited squeals. Erik just shook his head, doing his best to hide his smile.

"I see it! I see it!" Opal informed them as her father pulled into the parking lot.

Christine unbuckled and jumped out of the car to unfasten Opal from her carseat.

"Now you're going to be on your best behavior, right? That means no running around, and no pulling down lights," Christine told her as Opal scrambled out of her carseat.

Opal jumped out of the car and into the freshly fallen snow. She giggled, now in a much better mood, and began scooping up little piles of it in her gloved hands. Erik took one of her small hands into his and began walking beside Christine as they began their quest for a Christmas tree.

Erik had never been too keen about Christmas trees, or Christmas in general for that matter, and thought the entire idea of going out and purposefully buying a tree to sit in the house for a month was utterly ridiculous. However, he had Christine to please, and she adored the Christmas tree. She'd fill it with little ornaments, both ones he had bought in an attempt to please her and ones she had managed to keep from her childhood; nor to mention a few new, handmade ones curtsey of his little swan's love for arts and crafts. At the beginning he had insisted on coming with Christine to shop for a tree solely to ensure that one, it would fit through the back door, and two, he was not about to let his darling Christine carry anything that heavy, nor was he going to let any other willing man carry it for her. After all, what were husbands for if not to carry their wife's Christmas tree?

In truth, after Opal had come along and her love for all things Christmas became apparent, the act of picking out a tree had grown on Erik. He had found a fairly private Christmas tree lot that didn't get a lot of business, so even though he would have his flesh mask on, there would less people to have to interact with. The perfect place to appease his wife and avoid the Christmas crowds. He figured he could live with a pile of pine needle on the floor for a month if it made the ladies in his life so happy.

"Erik?"

Christine's voice pulled Erik out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he replied.

Christine crossed her arms and examined the tree that was directly in front of them. "I don't like this one."

"Then pick another one?" Erik said slowly, not completely understanding why Christine was lingering there.

Christine huffed and uncrossed her arms. "It's the tree that miss princess wants," she explained, looking up at her husband, obviously wanting him to vouch for her instead of siding with Opal, which, as it turns out, happened a lot.

"Er…well, it does look sort of…uneven?" Erik said, unsure of what answer Christine was looking for.

"Thank you, my thoughts exactly. It's just not christmas-y enough," she stated as she moved on down the line of trees.

Erik cocked an eyebrow. "Christmas-y?"

Christine nodded. "Yes, Christmas-y."

Erik shook his head knowing that 'Christmas-y' wasn't a word, but chose not to press the situation as he knew it was not an argument he would win. They passed a few more trees, and once and awhile Christine would stop…tilt her head to one side…then the other….and then move on.

"Well, what about this one?" Erik would offer occasionally, to each one Christine would reply something along the lines of 'not Christmas-y enough' or just shake her head.

They walked past three more trees when Christine stopped. "Wait- this is it! This is the tree!"

Erik stopped as well and looked at the tree. There was nothing unusual about the tree, it was still tall and green and— honestly, Erik thought they all looked alike.

"Are you sure this is the one you want? Erik asked.

Christine pulled her coat tighter around her. "Well…let's ask Opal. Opal, what do you think?" she looked down to ask—

Opal wasn't there.

"Erik, where's Opal?"

Erik's eyes widened. He had lost his daughter! How could he have been so careless?

"Wait here, I'll find her," he said calmly, patting his wife on the shoulder. "I'll be back in two minutes tops."

Christine shook her head. "Oh no, no, no. I'm coming with you."

Erik nodded, too numb to really care at the moment. The two took off calling for Opal, and looking behind and in-between the rows of trees. However, Opal was nowhere to be found.

Christine clung onto Erik's arm. "Erik, how on earth did we lose her, I could've sworn she was by my side this entire time."

Erik held Christine tighter. "It's not your fault, I lost track of her too. She couldn't have gone far, she's probably off playing in the snow-"

"Erik, I'm sorry that I've been so rude to you today-" But Christine stopped as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh...shh...don't worry, you're perfect, Christine," Erik reassured her pulling her close into an embrace.

"I love you so much," Christine sniffled into his coat.

Erik gave a warm smile. "I love you too." and he pressed a lingering kiss to the top of her head. He placed a finger under her chin and directed her face up to look at him before giving her a soft kiss on the lips. She melted into the kiss sliding her arms up around his neck. They broke the kiss and looked at each other, Erik placing his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Now let's focus on finding Opal, she's a good girl, I'm sure she's not far off-"

But about that time they heard a familiar voice rambling on a few trees down.

"And it's perfect for my house because I'm little, and this is a little tree, and Momma will be able to reach it since she's little too and Daddy says that she shouldn't reach up high with the baby, and…"

Christine and Erik gave each other a look of relief before hurriedly making their way over to where their daughter's voice was coming from.

There, standing in front of a short little Christmas tree, was Opal talking the owner of the tree farm's ear off.

"Oh, Opal!" Christine cried as she threw her arms around Opal, lifting her up and putting her on her hip. "Don't you ever run off from Momma again, you understand?" Christine scolded Opal through her tears of relief.

"You had me and Momma scared to death, little swan," Erik added, pushing a black curl out of Opal's eyes.

"But I found a tree!" Opal exclaimed, oblivious to the fact that her parents had been distraught a mere minute ago.

Christine let a laugh. "I see that, is that the tree you want?"

Opal nodded, proud of herself. She wriggled out of Christine's arms so that she was back on the ground before taking her father's hand and leading him over to the tree. Erik followed with Christine close behind.

"Well, _actually_ …this might not be the tree I want…"

Erik laughed and Christine rolled her eyes.

"Like mother, like daughter," Erik chuckled under his breath.

* * *

 **The End.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera.**

 **Hi! Sorry about missing the announcement date by a day, hopefully I didn't keep you waiting too long! Before the winners are announced, I've written a short 'part 2' to my sample one-shot if anyone cares to read before they jump down to the winners! If you like what you read- please review! They always make me smile! :)**

* * *

"Careful!"

 _Smack!_

"Don't hit the door…" Christine sighed.

Erik groaned and readjusted the tree. "Well, if there was someone in front of me telling me where to go I wouldn't have hit it."

"Daddy, don't hurt my tree!"

Ah yes, _her_ tree.

They had finally made it home with the perfect tree, according to Opal, and were in the process of setting it up in the house. A task Erik never looked forward to. Soon pine needles would be everywhere, sappy residue would coat everything the tree touched, and if they were lucky, incredibly lucky, a squirrel would _not_ bless them with its unwelcome presence.

Erik had lived through that nightmare once already.

With one final shove, the tree popped through the backdoor and into the house. Christine and Opal soon followed, helping to steady the back. The little family carried the tree all the way into the living room where Erik then set it up. Opal stood staring up at the tree, her arms crossed. She intently watched her daddy adjust the stand until it stood nice and tall in the corner.

"Stop!"

Erik glanced over his shoulder. "Stop what, little swan?"

Opal ran over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around his leg. "It's just right where it is."

Erik chuckled under his breath. "If you say so…"

"Come on, I think you're due for a snack, sweetie," Christine said, taking her daughter's hand and leading her out of the room, leaving Erik by himself to tend to the tree.

Later on, after the two women in the house had both taken a nap, they were back in the living room once more, this time with boxes of ornaments sprawled out on the floor. Opal was proudly hanging her homemade ones on the lowest branches, spinning wild stories about each of her ornaments. Christine was taking each one out, one by one, and placing it tenderly on the tree. Erik sat in his chair, pretending to be disinterested in the whole decorating process and reading a book, but secretly he was keeping an eye on his daughter to ensure little hands were kept away from his wife's more fragile ornaments.

"Mommy, why doesn't daddy have any ornaments?"

Erik peeked over the cover of his book.

Christine shot a quick glance over to Erik before sitting down next to Opal on the floor.

"What do you mean, honey?" Christine asked quietly.

Opal looked around. "There's no box with his name on it," she explained simply.

"Well, me and daddy share Christmas ornaments."

Opal scrunched her eyebrows together. "But you have your ornaments from when you were little, where is daddy's?"

Christine grimaced. "Well…"

Erik set his book down and beckoned for his daughter to come to him. She crawled up in his lap and looked at him with the same stare as her mother: able to see through souls.

"Little swan…" What was he saying? How was he supposed to tell his daughter that he had no ornaments because he had no Christmas before he met Christine? How was he supposed to let her down easy- break her heart?

"Daddy doesn't have any of his own because he didn't have you to make them for him," Erik said very softly.

"Oh." Opal's face fell.

She then climbed down from his lap and marched over to her box of ornaments she had assembled. She reached down and dug around for a second before emerging with a pinecone that had been glittered green with little white feathers glued to the top. She clutched to her chest before turing around and holding it out to Erik.

"This is for you, it's my favorite one," she said proudly. "Now you can have your own box."

Christine teared up, but then again she cried at everything these days. Darn hormones.

However, Erik froze, staring at his daughter and her pinecone offering.

Opal stepped forward, silently urging him to take it. Erik reached out and took it, holding it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

"Thank you," he choked out.

Before he could say anything else, Opal had jumped on him, arms tightly wrapped around his midsection. "I wanted you to have one to put on the tree too."

Erik nodded. "I know, thank you."

"I love you." Opal squeezed tighter.

"And I love you, little swan."

* * *

The End.

 **Hello! First of all, so sorry about posting this late- my computer crashed, Christmas, plus the fact that ALL the entries were so super amazing! I got a TON more than I thought I ever would! Because of that I'm considering hosting a Valentine one-shot contest- would anyone be interested in that? Any-who, now then, what you've all been waiting for…..the results! But first, THANK YOU to all the entries, as I said, all the stories were so good and both ElodieJane and myself wish that we could just give everyone first place! In addition to the overall winners, there are also category winners, these are NOT listed in order of placement. (So if your story is last on the list, it is NOT in last place, I just arranged the categories alphabetically). Also, I know I said only the first place winner would get a favorite, but honestly I think I'm going to favorite most of these since they're all so good! So, without further ado, here are the results:**

 **First Place**

A True Gift by monarch27

 **First Runner Up (2nd place)**

Forgiven by edka88

 **Second Runner Up (3rd place)**

A Joyeux Noël by Riene

 **Best Modern**

Moon Dance by SpookyMormonHellDream

 **Best R/C**

Snow Reflections by LittleLongHairedOutlaw

 **Cutest**

A Christmas to Remember BY SaturdayChick

 **Most Christmas Spirit**

Christmas Obstacles by E.M.K.81

 **Most Lyrical**

Sempre in the Key of E by Billy4Me

 **Most Original**

Echoes of Love by Angel of Iowa

 **Most Romantic**

A Swan Song Christmas by AliceHeart247

 **Most True to Leroux**

Christmas As It Ought Not Be by Igenlode Wordsmith

 **Congratulations to all the winners! Feel free to update your summary with your awards, or brag about them anywhere you please if that's what you choose to do! ha ha There are no losers as everyone did BEAUTIFULLY! I wish that I could have given you all first place. Hope to see you all again in the future for more fun holiday themed contests! :D**


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